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Exaggerating on a résumé

A reader asks the Wall Street Journal what to do when faced with an interview after having over-exaggerated her skills on her résumé. <br /><br />Exaggerating will always come back to bite you - according to ADP, over 45% of reference checks showed some discrepancy between actuality and that claimed by the applicant. Even if you feel you can get away with it in the interview, it can have dramatic repercussions down the line if it is discovered later. Not only is it dishonest and reflects poorly on the applicant’s moral character, there have also been many examples of companies having no qualms in dismissing an employee years later once they discovered inconsistencies in résumé claims.<br /><br />So what to do if you submitted a slightly outlandish résumé to a potential employer and then land an interview? Update it to be more accurate, and provide it to the interviewer as a fresher, updated version with more clarity. As the article states, "neither dwell on it, over-explain or apologize."<br /><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704679204575646484187669638.html?mod=WSJ_Careers_CareerJournal_4" target="new">Read more as WSJ.com


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